Can't Let Go
by AvrilBurkhart
Summary: Stefan & Elena watch Damon get killed. Elena wanted to save him so badly, but Stefan held her back. But what if Damon isn't really dead? Full plot in the story!
1. Intro

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little bit :]

_**Plot: **_Stefan and Elena watch Damon get killed, and Stefan won't let Elena go and try to save him. After Damon's death, Elena is deeply hurt and devastated by losing him and keeps remembering him and all the time they spent together. Stefan remembers Damon too, and even though he hated his brother, he really misses him. Stefan soon tells the truth to Elena about what happened that night. So is Damon really dead?

_**A/N: **_I know it doesn't sound like much, but I couldn't really put much more into the plot without telling the entire story :P I promise it will be good though! Oh, and a quick update on my other stories, I'm gonna put a note up on Pieces :] And Shattered is going great, I've been writing and writing the story :] And now, onto this story and I hope you like it :]

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Can't Let Go**

**Introduction **

Elena was racing down the road with Stefan right by her side. They were running to get to Damon, someone took Damon. They finally made it to the abandoned building in the middle of Mystic Falls where Stefan traced Damon too. Stefan heard yelling inside and hew knew what was going on. Stefan bust the door open and raced inside with Elena right behind him. Stefan and Elena hid behind a wall and were able to see Damon standing there. Elena wanted to go racing to Damon and get him out of there. She loved Damon, Damon was _hers_ and she would not let anyone hurt him.

"Stefan, why are we just standing here?" Elena whispered

"We can't just go bursting in there to save the day Elena" Stefan whispered back "I know you love Damon, but-"

Stefan was cut off mid-sentence by the sound of a gunshot. And it just kept going and going, someone was basically emptying a shot gun into Damon.

"DAMON!" Elena yelled and started running toward him

Stefan quickly grabbed Elena by her waist, pulled her back, and covered her mouth to keep her from yelling again. Elena struggled, even though she knew she was no match for Stefan's strength, she still wanted to believe that she could break free and get to Damon before he was dead. Stefan heard Damon's killers leave the building and that was when Stefan let Elena go. Elena went charging after Damon and realized then that the bullets were wooden bullets, they knew what Damon was. Elena started sobbing uncontrollably as she pulled Damon's lifeless body into her lap, he was barely alive, Elena saw the life slowly escaping his eyes.

"I love you Damon" Elena sobbed and kissed Damon on the lips one last time

"I love you too Elena" Were Damon's last words before she saw his body go completely lifeless

Elena held onto Damon and just cried her eyes out, not wanting to believe that he was truly dead. Elena found something to cut her wrist with on the floor and started trying to pour her blood down his mouth to try to save him, even though she knew it was too late.

"Elena" Stefan said and kneeled down next to her "Come on" He said and held his hand out to her

"We can't leave him here" She sobbed

"I'll come back and get his body, okay?" Stefan told Elena

Elena slowly nodded her head and gently put Damon's body back on the floor. Stefan took Damon's ring off of his finger and gave it to Elena.

"Take this…he would want you to have it" Stefan sighed

Elena nodded again, unable to form words anymore. She felt her heart breaking right inside her chest as she held Damon's ring in her hands. Elena kept letting the tears fall as she started at Damon's body, unable to look away with her blood on his lips. Stefan saw Elena's bleeding wrist and bit into his own wrist and put it in front of Elena.

"It's a deep cut Elena" Stefan said

Elena didn't protest and took Stefan's blood. She took as little as she could, just enough to heal up her wrist and then she pulled away, wiping the blood off of her lips. Elena looked down at her bracelet now, it was the bracelet she wore on her first date with Damon, she never took it off. But now, she slid the bracelet off and put it in Damon's lifeless hands and cried more as she did this. Stefan pulled her up again, keeping her from collapsing next to Damon's body, and helped her out of the building. Eventually Stefan picked her up and carried her back home. Jeremy and Jenna were in the living room when Stefan brought her inside. They knew about everything now, since Elena started dating Damon, she told them everything.

"What happened?" Jenna asked concerned and looked at her niece curled up into Stefan's chest and sobbing

"Damon…Damon was killed tonight" Stefan sighed

"…Oh my god" Jenna said shocked "Can you carry her up to her room for me?" Jenna asked Stefan

Stefan silently nodded and carried Elena upstairs as Jeremy and Jenna followed him. Stefan set Elena down on her bed and Jenna raced right to her side, holding her and telling her that everything happens for a reason. Jeremy stood in the doorway in shock. Him and Damon had become friends since he started dating Elena, and now here he was learning that Damon was now dead.

"…I'll leave you with Elena" Stefan said and looked at Jenna

"Thanks for bringing her home Stefan" Jenna said

"Your welcome" Stefan sighed "Take care of her Jeremy" Stefan said and put his hand on Jeremy's shoulder

"Yeah…I will" Jeremy said and nodded "…Thanks"

"No problem" Stefan said and walked out of the room and out of the house

* * *

Stefan walked down the street before taking off to the building where Damon's body was. He was still there, still lifeless. Stefan picked up his brother's body and as soon as he left the building, took off towards the Boarding House. He had to get the key to the family crypt before taking Damon's body down there. Just then, Stefan heard something, something whispering to him. Stefan looked back at Damon's body, nothing. He went back to searching the desk and swore he saw Damon's fingers twitch a little.

"…Impossible" Stefan said and stood over Damon's body

Damon's hand twitched again. Stefan picked up Damon's body and decided to carry him down to the basement. He locked up the body in one of the cells down there. If Damon was dead still by tomorrow night, Stefan would take his body down to the crypt. But for now, he just stood there on the other side of the door, looking at his brother, seeing his hand twitch. Stefan raced up to the fridge and brought a blood bag down and put it in the cell with Damon. If that was empty by tomorrow, he would know. Once the door was shut and locked, Stefan gave one last glance to the body, thinking he had gone insane for thinking Damon was still alive. _They emptied an entire shotgun of wooden bullets into him, he's dead Stefan, _Stefan thought to himself as he walked away. Stefan walked upstairs to see a blonde haired woman in his living room.

"Told you I'd kill him" She smiled

"I think he's still alive Alora" Stefan said

"That's impossible" She scoffed "I emptied an entire shotgun of wooden bullets soaked in vervain into his body, he's dead"

"…Yeah, I guess…I can't believe he's finally gone" Stefan said

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, second thoughts and all that other crap" She sighed "Now, where's the other ring you promised me for killing him?"

Stefan sighed and reached into his pocket. It wasn't Damon's ring, it was completely different. He had Bonnie charm this ring, claiming he lost his, and Bonnie trusted him enough to make another one. Stefan tossed the ring to Alora and she caught it and slipped it onto her finger and smiled a Cheshire cat smile.

"Perfect" She purred "It was nice doing business with you Stefan"

"Yeah, you too" Stefan sighed as Alora disappeared from the house

Stefan poured himself a glass off Damon's scotch and sat in front of the fire burning in the fire place. How could he do this to his own brother? Was he really that jealous? Did he really despise Damon that much, hearing Elena tell him that she loved him, did it really get to him to the point having hiring someone to kill him? Judging from him sitting alone in the house, alone and in peace, not even the sound of Damon on the phone with Elena in the house anymore, he knew the answer to his question. Jealousy really did get to him that badly.

_

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A/N: Okay, so I know this first part may suck, but I promise it will get better! I'm just kinda introducing the story. Sorry, but Stefan is the bad guy in the story, but I promise the flashbacks in the chapters coming up will explain why! There's always a reason as to why the bad guy is the way he is, right? _

_Delena memories will be coming up too :] It'll be sad but romantic at the same time. Most of this story will be flashbacks from Stefan and Elena. Maybe a few from Jeremy too since him and Damon were friends in this story :] But, as it goes on, it'll be less flashbacks and more story because guilt will slowly eat Stefan alive. _

_So, I hope you like the story, because I'm kinda looking forward to writing this one along with my other ones :] So, I love you guys for reading this, another one of my crazy random ideas that I decided to turn into a story :P xoxo, Avril _


	2. Our Last Night

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

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Chapter One: **Our Last Night

Elena's eyes fluttered open, she felt like she was hit by a bus. She wanted to just shut her eyes again, even though it was already 11, she just wanted to stay in bed today. And she would have, if Bonnie wasn't standing right there in her room starring at her.

"Morning" Bonnie said "Scoot"

Elena moved over in her bed and let Bonnie get in right next to her. Bonnie and Elena always shared the bed whenever they were about to have some sort of serious talk with each other, it was just their thing.

"I heard about Damon…I'm sorry Elena" Bonnie sighed and hugged her best friend

Elena didn't react, she just started crying, being reminded that Damon was gone, it just felt like someone was stabbing her in the heart all over again. Bonnie held Elena tighter and tried to calm her down before letting go of her again. Bonnie and Elena eventually sat up in Elena's bed when she stopped crying so much.

"I know you don't wanna talk about it…but, what did you and Damon do on your last night together?" Bonnie asked curiously

"…We…we slept together for the first time" Elena said "And he asked me to move into his house with him, you know, the one on the outskirts of town, the one he's been working on"

"Yeah, I know the one" Bonnie said "…I…I know how it feels to lose someone you really love Elena. I know you were in pain when your parents died too, but I can see that…this is worse for you, isn't it?" Bonnie asked

Elena nodded and felt the tears coming on again. As she started crying in Bonnie's arms, she started remembering her last night with Damon.

_**

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Flashback: **_

Elena laid in Damon's bed next to him and kissed him on the cheek. He just moved a little, but stayed asleep with his arms wrapped around Elena, keeping her close to him. Elena just smiled and snuggled up next to Damon again.

"I love you" She whispered in his ear

"I love you too" Damon whispered back and smiled

"Hey!" Elena laughed "Your still awake"

"No I'm not" Damon said with a smile still on his face and his eyes still shut

"Yes you are, liar" Elena smiled

Damon opened his eyes and kissed Elena over and over again, leading to kissing her neck and kissing over where he took blood from her earlier. It was all healed up because she took blood from him, but he still knew where it was.

"So, did you think about what I asked you earlier?" Damon asked

"Mhmm" Elena smiled "You've convinced me to move in with you, I think I could get used to this everyday"

"Me too" Damon said and kissed Elena's lips again. "Get away from that brooding brother of mine, how did you ever love him?"

"Let's not get into that" Elena sighed "Can we stay focused on this?" Elena asked and kissed Damon and pulled away smiling

"That's fine with me" Damon said with and smirk and got back on top of Elena and started kissing every inch of her that he could get to

Elena kept trying to bring Damon to her lips so she could kiss him and finally on the fifth attempt, he did as Elena commanded and kissed her lips. He would never tell Elena this, but he would do anything for her, he was her slave. No one ever had this power over him, not even Katherine. But Elena, he would do anything to keep a smile on her face and to show her just how much he really loved her. He couldn't believe that in a matter of the three months they had been dating already, that he had fallen this hard for her. He didn't really care how or why it happened, he was just glad it did, because, looking back at the past few months they spend together, he couldn't have thought of a better way to spend them than with Elena.

_**

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Present: **_

Remembering their last night only brought more tears to Elena's eyes as she held Bonnie right there with her. She wished she could have gone back in time and stopped Damon, or saved him from his death. She would trade anything in the world to be able to have Damon back with her here right now.

* * *

Stefan was thinking about going to go check on Elena at her house, see how she was holding up, but he was interrupted when someone knocked on his door. Stefan opened the door to see Isobel at his door.

"What do you want?" Stefan asked harshly

"So, I hear Damon's dead" Isobel said as she walked into the house past Damon "I also hear Elena dumped you three months ago to date Damon" Isobel smiled

"Why are you here Isobel?" Stefan asked

"Just seeing if my creator really is dead, looks like it" She said looking around the house for signs of life "…How's Elena?"

"I'm going to go see her now, you can come-"

"No, no" Isobel said "I think I'm really the last person she wants to see right now. I'll be on my way then" Isobel sighed and head back towards the door "Oh, and Stefan?"

"Yeah?" Stefan asked

"Stay the hell away from my daughter you lying bastard" Isobel hissed through clenched teeth and vanished from Stefan's sight after that

Stefan stood there confused for a minute, what was that outburst about? Did she know? Could she tell Damon might still be alive downstairs? _No, Stefan your just paranoid. Isobel is really nobody's fan, _Stefan thought to himself. He grabbed his jacket and started walking out the door. While Stefan was walking towards Elena's house, Stefan started to remember the first night he realized Damon was in love with Elena.

_**

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Flashback: **_

Stefan walked into the Boarding House that night, spotting Damon in the living room, drinking his usual glass of scotch and watching the fire burn.

"Hello brother" Damon sighed

"Damon" Stefan said "…You seem…depressed"

"I am" Damon said

"What has you so down?" Stefan asked and sat down next to him, pouring himself a glass of blood, he'd been really drinking the human stuff since Elena dumped him last week

"Love" Damon said

"I didn't know you still could feel love after 169 years of choosing not to feel it" Stefan said

"I can still feel Stefan. I flipped the switch and it won't turn off" Damon said

"…What is it now? Is it Katherine?" Stefan asked

"No…I still want to kill that bitch" Damon said

"Then who is it that has you so down?" Stefan asked

"…No one" Damon said and continued to stare into the fire

"…It's Elena, isn't it?" Stefan asked, not really wanting to hear the answer

"Maybe" Damon said with a smirk

"…Look, I'm just gonna go then" Stefan sighed and stood up

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to have a heartfelt brother to brother talk about the woman we love" Damon said with a smirk

"Go back to your drink Damon, I change my mind" Stefan said

Stefan walked out of the living room and was heading for the kitchen when he was stopped by Damon's voice again.

"Did she always make you feel like this Stefan? Like your actually living for something now?" Damon asked

"…Yeah…she used to" Stefan said "Still does a little bit"

"…Go ahead, I won't keep you here" Damon sighed "Go brood in your room or something"

"…You should go talk to her Damon" Stefan said as he started walking up the stairs "She dumped me because she has feelings for you"

Stefan knew Damon was sitting there with a shocked look on his face now as he walked up the stairs. Stefan talked to Elena earlier, about why they broke up, she told him exactly that, she had feelings for Damon. It broke his heart to hear it, but he dealt with it, it was Elena's choice, not his. He was going to accept it, or try to accept the fact of that Elena wanted Damon, not him. And if he couldn't…well, he didn't want to think about what would happen if he couldn't.

_**

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Present: **_

Stefan was standing outside Elena's door, waiting for someone to answer. Jeremy came to the door and stepped aside letting Stefan in.

"She's upstairs with Bonnie" Jeremy said

"Thanks" Stefan said and walked upstairs and into Elena's room

It hurt him to see Elena like this, to know that he was the cause of her pain. All because he was jealous, jealous that Elena chose Damon over him. Stefan sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Bonnie hold Elena as if she were a fragile doll that would break at any second. Elena looked up for a second to see Stefan there. She stopped crying a little bit and looked at Stefan.

"When did you get here?" She asked

"A few seconds ago" Stefan said

"Oh" Elena said and wiped away more of her tears

"…I know you don't want to hear this, but Isobel stopped by before I came over here. She must be back in town for a little while at least" Stefan said

"…I'll worry about that later" Elena said

"No, don't worry Elena, I can handle Isobel" Stefan said

"…I'll help" Bonnie sighed

Stefan nodded as Bonnie kept her gaze locked on him. "Stefan, I need to talk to you, later" Bonnie said strangely

"…Fine" Stefan said, he didn't know what Bonnie wanted, but he had a hunch that she had a few questions for him

_

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A/N: Okay, so that was the second chapter, I hope you guys like it :] I saw that a bunch of you guys set up story alerts for this story, so I hope you read this chapter and you like it :] _

_Next chapter is going to be Bonnie questing Stefan about Damon's death, maybe a little more Isobel, and of course more flashbacks. Who's flashbacks they will be I'm not gonna say :] I love you guys! xoxo, Avril_


	3. The Truth

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

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Chapter Two: **The Truth

Elena finally calmed down and decided to take a nap again around 3 in the afternoon, that was when Bonnie and Stefan finally decided to leave and let Elena get some peace. Stefan was going to take off, but Bonnie stopped him dead in his tracks with one of her spells.

"Not so fast Salvatore" Bonnie said and finally let up on the spell, letting Stefan stop suffering in pain

"What do you want to know Bonnie?" Stefan asked and turned to face her

"I want to know why, out of nowhere, someone comes to town and decides to kidnap Damon and kill him" Bonnie said

"You should know yourself, your not exactly a fan of Damon's" Stefan said

"No, I'm not" Bonnie said "But I wouldn't kill him because he makes Elena happy, or used to I guess is the word here" Bonnie sighed "Do you know who killed him Stefan?"

"…No" Stefan lied "I've been searching since last night, I got nothing, it was an out of town vampire, probably someone who just decided to get rid of Damon"

"Stefan, if you know and your just trying to protect someone, I could kill you, you know that?" Bonnie asked "I can tell your lying, you've always been a bad liar" Bonnie hissed "Now tell the truth before I reverse the spell on the damn ring of yours and make you turn into a pile of ash"

"Fine, I know who it is, but they left already. She came by the Boarding House last night before I went to go bury Damon" Stefan said, partially lying again

"What was her name?" Bonnie asked, still pissed off

"Alora" Stefan said "She's younger than Damon and I, she met Damon and wanted revenge" Stefan said

"Bravo" Isobel said and clapped slowly, walking up the sidewalk to Stefan and Bonnie "Grade A performance Stefan, I think that scene should win an Oscar"

"Isobel" Stefan said

"Nice to see you too, but I thought I told you to stay away from Elena" Isobel said

"Why are you here?" Bonnie asked Isobel

"News travels fast in the vampire world" Isobel said with a smirk "Plus, the girl that killed Damon, she brags a lot about finally killing one of the Salvatore's. I just kinda figured it was Damon because, well, no one really liked him except for Elena. So, I'm going to ask you nicely Stefan since you seem to be lying to the little witch here. And if you lie, and I know when you are lying, I'll hold you down while she lifts that curse off of your ring and you turn into dust, got it?"

Stefan just nodded silently, then looked up at Bonnie. "Please don't tell Elena…I will, when she's not so…fragile"

"…Fine" Bonnie said firmly, "Now talk"

"…I asked Alora to kill Damon. In return, she got a ring like mine and Damon's, the one I had your curse" Stefan sighed "She killed Damon. I held Elena back. Elena watched him die…she tried to save him but…it was too late. I…I feel the guilt now, and I know it's too late. I did this to Elena. I'm the cause of her pain" Stefan said

Bonnie's eyes widened in shock, Isobel didn't look surprised, she just looked pissed off.

"I knew it" Isobel hissed "You couldn't stand that Elena chose your brother over you. So you had to kill him, huh? Just kill him and crush her heart into a million pieces?" Isobel said and pinned Stefan down "Your lucky I don't kill you right here right now Stefan"

"Your not strong enough Isobel" Stefan said

"I can try" Isobel said with a smirk on her face

"Let him go" Bonnie said

Isobel looked up to see Bonnie was angry, but yet she was telling her to let Stefan go. Isobel slowly got off of Stefan and stood up again.

"Let him suffer in his own misery, that's the worst punishment we can give him. Don't grant him the easy way out of true death, let him feel the guilt and feel Elena's pain" Bonnie said and then starting speaking another language that Isobel didn't recognize, but knew what Bonnie was doing.

It was like an invisible force knocked Stefan right off of his feet as he was trying to stand up. Finally when the spell was done, Bonnie collapsed, but Isobel caught her and Bonnie started to become conscious again.

"What did you do?" Stefan asked Bonnie

"I made it so that you feel Elena's pain. All of her pain, until her heart is healed again, you'll feel all of her pain as she feels it" Bonnie hissed and slowly stood up "It's the least you deserve after what you did to her" Bonnie spat and turned around and walked back into Elena's house

A minute later, Stefan felt the pain hit him. It felt like someone had staked him in the heart, and they kept pulling the stake out and stabbing him again, and again, and again. It was crippling really, he didn't want to move, he just wanted to stay there on the ground and wait for the pain to stop, but it wasn't going away. It felt like his head was going to explode and his heart was going to fall right out of his chest. Isobel watched Stefan in the crippling pain and walked up to him and kneeled down by him.

"I know you didn't bury Damon yet" Isobel said "Where's his body?"

"Basement" Stefan said "Boarding House Basement"

Isobel looked again at Stefan in that crippling pain, took his arm, snapped it, knowing she just broke it, smiled, and got up and took off towards the Boarding House, leaving Stefan there to suffer. For some reason, she thought that Damon was still alive, she knew Stefan was lying about burying him, she was there this morning, she sensed Damon still in the house, but it was so weak, she didn't know where he was in the house until now.

* * *

Damon woke up to his surroundings, he knew he was barely alive, and he knew who saved him from true death, Elena, his Elena saved him. He smelled the blood there in the cell with him and he grabbed it and bit into it, he wouldn't fully heal, but it'd be enough to keep him conscious for now. He wanted to find a way out of here as soon as he could, no matter how long it took, he would get out of here and get back to Elena.

**

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Flashback:**

"…What did you just say?" Damon asked Elena, surprised, as he sat on her bed next to her

"I said…I love you" She said and smiled at him "And I thought that you should finally know that"

All Damon could do was smile and kiss Elena. She kissed back with just as much passion and didn't ever want to end this moment. She wanted to be in Damon's arms forever, just as much as Damon wanted her in his arms forever. Elena finally had to pull away to breath, but she stayed close to Damon and just kept giving him quick kisses every time she caught her breath.

"You know, when you decide to, when you a vampire, you won't need to breathe anymore" Damon smiled

"That would make kissing a whole lot easier" Elena laughed

"It makes kissing way easier" Damon smiled and kissed Elena on her cheek and moved down to kissing her neck

It had been a while since he last fed, so he couldn't help it when his fangs came out and just scraped Elena's neck. He had to pull away and control himself.

"You hungry?" Elena asked

"No" Damon said and stood up away from Elena, he knew she was going to offer herself, and he didn't want to, she had just told him she loved him and he didn't want to take advantage of that.

"Damon, if your hungry-"

"I'm not" Damon said "I'm fine"

"…Okay" Elena sighed as Damon sat down next to her again

It was silent for a minute in the room until Damon smelled blood again and his fangs came out. It was then he realized Elena purposely cut her hand and held it out in front of Damon now.

"I knew you were hungry" Elena said

"Elena…" Damon sighed and pushed her hand away

"Damon, I want you too" Elena said and put her hand back in front of his lips

Damon stared at her hand and then at her. She was determined to get him to drink her blood.

"The reason why I don't want to Elena, is because if I took blood from you, it would probably lead to sex, and I don't want to take advantage of you like that" Damon said and pushed her hand away again "You just told me you loved me, that's enough for now"

Elena nodded and then looked down at the deep cut in her hand and was realizing now how much it hurt.

"Ow" She said

"Here" Damon said and bit into his wrist and offered it to Elena

"…You take my blood first" Elena said

"…Fine, if it gets you to take mine to heal up" Damon sighed

Elena smiled and took Damon's wrist and started drinking his blood while Damon bit into her hand and started drinking her blood. To Elena, Damon's blood tasted like the best kind of candy there was on earth, with just a little bit of an alcoholic taste to it. And to Damon, Elena's blood tasted like strawberries, just like the way she always smelled to him, like sweet, sweet strawberries. Soon, they finally stopped drinking each other's blood and started just kissing each other. Elena felt Damon's hands sliding up under her shirt and it wasn't long until that shirt was gone. With Damon right on top of her, she started tugging at Damon's shirt wanting it gone, and a second later, it was.

"Hey Elena- Whoa! God! Do you have to do this here?" Jeremy said as soon as he saw the scene

"You just have perfect timing, don't you Jeremy?" Damon asked sarcastically and grabbed his shirt and put it back on and handed Elena her shirt and she put it back on

"What is it Jeremy?" Elena asked

"Jenna wanted to ask you something" Jeremy said "Next time, a do not disturb sign outside the door would be nice" Jeremy said

"Maybe next time you should knock" Damon said

"Whatever" Jeremy said and walked out

"Elena, your brother has that magical ring on, just let me kill him, just this one time, please let me kill him" Damon begged

"You did that once already" Elena said

"I was drunk, it doesn't count" Damon said

"No killing my brother again" Elena said "The only thing your allowed to do anymore is to kiss me" Elena smiled and kissed Damon on the cheek

Damon smiled and wrapped his arms around Elena and kissed her on the cheek. "You lucky I love you"

"I know" Elena laughed and locked Damon in a passionate kiss before breaking Damon's hold on her and walking out of the room and heading downstairs with a smile on her face, leaving Damon there smiling.

"I could get used to an eternity with her" Damon smiled to himself as he got up and followed her downstairs

**

* * *

Present: **

"Damon" Isobel said as she reached Damon's cell door

"Isobel?" Damon asked

He heard her fiddling around with the lock on the door, until he heard it go silent, and then heard her body drop to the floor. The door opened and he saw someone throw Isobel's body in there, she had a vervain needle in her side. Damon looked and saw Stefan walk in, grabbing his chest, and stabbed another vervain needle into Damon's side.

"Why?" Damon asked and felt the sting of the vervain

"Because, I want Elena. And nothing Bonnie can do or you can say will stop me from winning her back" Stefan said

Damon looked at Stefan and slowly felt his eyes close again. He was unconscious again and wouldn't be waking up for a while considering how weak he was still already.

* * *

Elena woke up in her bedroom alone, but saw flowers there on her nightstand. They were red roses…red roses like the ones Damon used to always bring to her. Just the memory of Damon bringing those roses to her brought the tears back. There was no card on the flowers, but she knew already that it was probably Stefan. She didn't want the roses, roses were supposed to be from Damon, not Stefan. She got out of bed and picked up the roses and brought them downstairs. She set them down on the table without saying a word to Jenna and went back up to her room. As soon as she got back up there, she got back in bed and curled up with the teddy bear Damon often messed around with when he would just lay in bed and talk to Elena during the night. She saw the rays of the sun streaming into her room and glistening off of Damon's ring that she kept on her finger now. She looked at the ring and closed her eyes to keep the tears from coming back.

"Damon…if you can hear me, I miss you" Elena said and felt the tears falling as she opened her eyes to see the ring again "I miss you so much. If I could find anyway to bring you back, I would trade anything to bring you back" Elena sobbed now "Just…come back. I miss you and I love you. I love you so much Damon" Elena said and wiped her tears away and pulled the teddy bear close to her and letting the teddy bear catch her tears now.

_

* * *

_

_A/N: So Damon's still alive :] I couldn't_ _kill Damon in a Delena story :P But, he won't be getting to Elena anytime soon with Stefan around and keeping him and now Isobel too knocked out with vervain in the basement of the Boarding House._

_So, with Damon and now Isobel locked up, the person that saves them later on in the story could either be Bonnie, Jeremy, Alaric, Elena, or perhaps Caroline; I'm brining her into the story in the next chapter when she visits Elena and tries to cheer her up :] Oh! Or maybe they'll all team up against Stefan and save Damon and Isobel later on! That sounds even better :P But, we'll see what happens :] I love you guys! xoxo, Avril_


	4. Pain

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

**

* * *

Chapter Three: **Pain

Stefan felt that pain still heavy in his chest as he made his way to Elena's house. He was tempted to stop and just sit for a few minutes at one point because the pain was so bad. It wasn't emotional, it wasn't like he just wanted to cry, Bonnie made Elena's emotional pain _physical_ in her curse on Stefan. Every step he took hurt him, like someone was breaking every bone in his legs as he walked. He just wanted to get to Elena's house and try to ease her pain, not just for his own sake, but because if this is how he felt, he couldn't imagine how Elena felt. Plus the guilt was eating him up inside, even though Damon was in fact alive, whenever he saw Damon, he wanted him dead for winning Elena's love, but whenever he saw Elena, he wanted to go set Damon free. He was torn inside, he knew what he should do, but he didn't want to do it.

It had already been two weeks since Elena watched Damon get killed. Two weeks Damon and Isobel have been locked up in the basement. Stefan never let them turn into living corpses, he gave them enough blood to keep them alive and weak, but never let them turn into living corpses. He saw the hatred in their eyes every time he walked into that cell, they hated him for keeping them locked in that room with vervain, and they had every reason to hate him.

As Stefan stood in front of Elena's door, he could faintly hear Caroline up in the room with Elena, she was trying to cheer her up. It was working a little bit whatever she was doing, the pain wasn't so bad, but it was still there.

* * *

Elena smiled a little at the movie Caroline put on. Caroline was making her watch _Scary Movie 2_ just so maybe she'd laugh a little. She did a little for Caroline, to show her that she was okay, to make everyone stop worrying about her being alone in her room so much and doing nothing but sleeping and crying, and to make everyone stop trying to shove food down her throat since she had barely been eating anymore. Caroline made a huge bowl of popcorn and kept it in front of Elena.

"I want you to eat that entire thing of popcorn Missy" Caroline said "Jenna said you've barely been eating, so, at least have a little bit of this, I know you _love_ popcorn" Caroline smiled

"Fine" Elena sighed and started eating some popcorn with Caroline.

It wasn't long after the movie started that Elena heard someone knock on the door and Jenna went to go answer it. Every time someone knocked on the door, Elena secretly wished it was Damon, hoping he wasn't truly dead. She knew it was a silly wish, but she wasn't going to stop wishing that, not now, not ever.

"_Stefan, come on in. Caroline's up there with her right now" _Elena heard Jenna say

She knew it was dumb to wish it was Damon in the first place, but her heart sank a little as she heard it was Stefan that came to the door, not _her_ Damon. A few seconds later, Elena saw Stefan at the door way. He looked like he was in a little bit of pain, but Elena quickly dismissed that, vampires only feel pain when their staked through the heart…or shot at with wooden bullets. Elena dismissed that painful memory and looked back up at Stefan.

"Hi Stefan" Elena said quietly

Caroline tore herself away from the screen and looked at Stefan. "Oh, Hi Stefan" Caroline said "Uh, I'm gonna go get something to drink downstairs, want anything Elena?"

"No" Elena said

"Soda it is then" Caroline smiled and walked past Stefan out of the room, but as she did, she felt this strange chill that caused her to stop in her tracks and look at Stefan strangely.

"…Everything okay Caroline?" Stefan asked her

Caroline just stared at Stefan for a minute and still felt that chill there as she stood close to him. She backed away and it was gone.

"…Fine" Caroline said "I think it was just a draft or something, AC just kicked in" She said looking up at the vent in the ceiling, knowing that it was off still

"…Okay" Stefan said and walked into Elena's room

Caroline just tried to shake off that scary and cold feeling she got from Stefan. It was probably just her freaking out or something. I mean someone killing Damon, though she wanted to do it herself a few times, it just scared her and broke her heart. Though she hated Damon with all of her existence, she knew Elena loved him and he loved Elena. Caroline walked into the kitchen and got her and Elena a soda and was about to walk upstairs when someone knocked on the door. She went and opened the door and saw Bonnie standing there, she looked worried.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked

"Is Stefan here?" Bonnie asked quietly

Caroline just nodded and walked outside with Bonnie, shutting the front door behind her. "What's up?" Caroline asked

"I think Damon's still alive" Bonnie said

"What? How?" Caroline asked

"I don't know, I just keep having this…dream of seeing Damon locked up somewhere with someone else. I don't know who's with him, but their barely alive, the both of them are barely alive" Bonnie said

"Is it like a vision or something?" Caroline asked

"I don't know" Bonnie said "I guess so. But I have no idea where they are"

"So what? Should I go put on my superhero costume and we go save the day or something?" Caroline asked sarcastically

"Caroline, I'm being serious" Bonnie said "Something is wrong. Stefan admitted to me and Isobel that he had Damon killed, but I don't think he's dead"

"…Wait…Stefan?" Caroline asked "When I walked past him, I got this…scary, cold feeling. Like…death or something" Caroline said "Death, or pain, or something…it's just bad" Caroline said

"You felt that?" Bonnie asked "Well, you know about Stefan and Damon being-"

"Vampires? Yeah, Elena gave me that memo already a long time ago" Caroline said "So?"

"Vampires in general are death, but you feeling something, that's a little weird" Bonnie sighed "Did you feel anything other than death and cold when you walked by him?"

"Well…" Caroline said thinking back "There was a little bit of guilt"

"At least that part of my spell is working" Bonnie said

"You put a spell on Stefan?" Caroline asked

"I'll explain later" Bonnie sighed "For now, we just need to wait I guess, wait until that guilt breaks Stefan down and tells us where Damon is"

"I guess so" Caroline sighed "You gonna come inside?"

"Sure" Bonnie said

* * *

"I just miss him so much Stefan" Elena cried to Stefan as he held her there

"…I know Elena" Stefan sighed and felt that sharp pain in his chest again as Elena cried

"…Did you bury him yet?" Elena asked

"…Yeah" Stefan sighed, he was already lying to everyone else mostly, so he figured he'd just keep lying

"…Will you take me to where you buried him?" Elena asked through tear filled eyes

"Sure" Stefan said "Whenever you wanna go"

"I want to go now" Elena said

"Okay" Stefan said and stood up from her bed and helped Elena up

After telling Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy, and Jenna where they were going, they finally left the house to go to the graveyard where Damon was supposedly buried, but Stefan knew exactly where he was. It broke his heart to see Elena like this, and it literally hurt him sometimes too. The more she cried, the more pain there was that Stefan managed to hide from Elena on the drive there. Once they were there, Stefan brought Elena to Damon's fake grave.

"I was going to put him in the family tomb, but I decided to just…bury him here" Stefan sighed and saw his mother's tombstone next to Damon's. If Damon were really dead, he would rather be here next to their mother, Damon was always closet to their mother than anyone else.

Elena kneeled down to Damon's grave and just started at it, she was out of tears now. Just staring at Damon's grave. She remembered when Damon brought her here, mainly to show her where his mother was buried, but also to show where Stefan and him were supposedly buried when they died.

"I want him back Stefan" Elena sighed

"…It'd be better if you hated me Elena" Stefan said

"…What do you mean?" Elena asked confused and was looking up at Stefan confused now

"…I just…I can't deal with this" Stefan said and sat down next to Elena now "I don't want to see you sad anymore Elena. You've had too much sadness in your life already!" Stefan said and held Elena by her shoulders now "I need you to hate me"

"Why?" Elena asked confused and scared at the same time

"Because **I** had Damon killed!" Stefan said

"…What?" Elena asked horrified now

"I can't take this anymore Elena. I was jealous! Okay! I was jealous that you picked Damon over me, and in that stupid jealousy, I had someone kill Damon!" Stefan said

Elena couldn't say anything for a minute as she let Stefan's words sink in. After a few minutes of starring at each other, Elena's sadness turned into anger and pure hatred and she slapped Stefan right across the face as she stood up.

"You did this!" She hissed at him "Why did you take him away from me?"

"Elena! Listen to me-"

"I don't want to hear it Stefan!" Elena hissed and started trying to walk away from him, but Stefan grabbed hear by the arm

"Elena!" Stefan said and made her face him against her will "Damon's not dead!" Stefan said

Elena looked at Stefan. Her emotions were all over the place right now. She was sad, angry, and confused all at the same time. She just wanted Damon back, that's all she knew anymore, she just wanted her Damon back and to be with him for all of eternity.

* * *

_A/N: So Stefan broke down and told Elena that Damon was alive. But he didn't say where Damon was :] And he will not, not yet at least. And with Stefan being all weird like he is in this story, who knows what could happen to Elena being alone with him like she is right now in the gave yard... _

_There were no flashbacks this chapter, but there will be when more excitement happens. Sorry if this chapter was sucky :/ I've been working on my other two stories, and I wrote a one shot yesterday after last night's Vampire Diaries about Stefan/Caroline which I found out their couple name is Steroline, so yeah, I kinda ship them now too :P i like way too many weird couples :P Anyway, I'm gonna work on the next chapter and hopefully make it less suck-ish :] I love you guys! xoxo, Avril_


	5. The Fine Line

_Tell me would you kill to save a life?_

_Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?_

_Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn_

_This sorry can't change things, I so long to cry_

**Hurricane by 30 Seconds To Mars ft. Kanye West**

**

* * *

**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

**

* * *

Chapter Four: **The Fine Line

"What?" Elena asked in confusion, staring at Stefan who had his eyes locked on her

Elena saw his eyes filled with guilt, pain, regret, sadness, anger, and hatred all at once. She didn't know which emotion to believe anymore. She tried to pull away from Stefan's grasp, but he only tightened his hold on her arm.

"Stefan…you're hurting me" Elena said trying to pull away again, but he held on tighter. "…Where's Damon?" Elena asked hoping it would distract Stefan and make him let her go

"I…I can't tell you" Stefan said, still holding onto Elena as if she was the only thing keeping him from falling into complete darkness

"Why not?" Elena asked, trying not to let anger seep into her voice, but she failed and saw the hurt in Stefan's eyes even more now.

Stefan couldn't say anything, he couldn't find the answer to Elena's question. Elena tried to pull away again, but this time Stefan pulled her closer to him, just inches away from his face. Elena gasped when she saw that Stefan wasn't in control anymore. His eyes had veins showing underneath them now and she saw his fangs in his mouth now.

"…Stefan" Elena said, feeling true fear now "…Have you been drinking human blood?"

"Yes" Stefan said and his eyes were locked on Elena's neck now, seeing the veins in her neck was almost too much. And hearing her heartbeat going faster and faster the longer he started at her neck. He saw her starting to cry, but her sobs were deafened by the sound of her heartbeat.

Stefan couldn't take it anymore and in a flash, he was biting into Elena's neck, drinking her sweet blood. He heard her cries stop and her heartbeat slow down, and when it was down to just the faintest sound, Stefan pulled away and watched Elena fall down to the ground like a rag doll. After a minute of staring at her body, he was in control again and fell to his knees by Elena's body, she was barely breathing, her eyes barely open and her face was stained with dried up tears.

"Elena…" Stefan said and felt his heart breaking

"Elena!" Stefan heard Bonnie's voice tear through the silence and heard her footsteps coming closer and closer to them

Stefan picked up Elena's body and got out of the graveyard before Bonnie could see what he had done. Stefan didn't know what to do anymore, but he knew what he was, he knew he was a monster.

* * *

Bonnie was running as fast as her legs could carry her with Caroline right behind her. After that horrifying vision at the house after Stefan and Elena left, she tried to get here as fast as she could. Bonnie and Caroline finally reached the place where her vision was, Bonnie knew that Stefan and Elena were here, she could sense it.

"Oh my god" Caroline said as she looked down on the ground

Her gaze was fixed on the patch of grass right by the tombstone that read _Elizabeth Salvatore_. But it wasn't the tombstone that made Caroline stare in horror. It was the blood that stained that patch of grass that made Caroline was to fall to her knees. Bonnie saw the grass now too and had a sinking feeling that she was going to be too late.

"We have to get Alaric" Bonnie said and put her hands on Caroline's shoulders "We have to get Alaric, Jenna, and Jeremy"

"What can we do Bonnie? Yeah, you're a witch, and Alaric's a vampire hunter, and Jeremy is semi-immortal now with that freaky ring, but Jenna and I…we're just human" Caroline said

"I have a plan, and we need _everyone_ if we want to save Elena, okay?" Bonnie said

Caroline nodded slowly and Bonnie led her out of the graveyard. There was nothing they could do right now. They had to get everyone together and figure out a way to save Elena before it was too late. Stefan wasn't in his right mind anymore, Bonnie knew he was back on human blood. Something told her that he never stopped drinking human blood. But it was too late now to regret trusting Stefan even for a second; or to regret that she preferred Stefan over Damon when she saw clearly now who the bad brother was. All she knew right now is that she had to save her best friend before she was dead, or worse…undead.

* * *

Elena was barely conscious, but she knew where she was, she was in the living room of the Boarding House. She heard Stefan pacing back and forth by the fire place, then she heard a sudden crash, like something shattering, he probably broke something she figured. Hearing that glass shattering reminded Elena of when she and Damon had one of their first fights.

_**

* * *

Flashback: **_

Damon threw his glass full of blood against a nearby wall, that wouldn't calm him down tonight, not even alcohol would calm him down. Seeing Stefan with Elena, even if it was supposedly just a friendly hug up in her room, he saw something in Stefan's eyes. He wanted Elena back, he wanted her back badly. And what does he get for trying to show that Elena was his to his brother? Elena yelling at him for being an ass and that he was a jerk for even questioning her love for him for just a second. And he was kicked out by none other than Jenna herself with a wooden stake and her vampire hunter boyfriend who happened to have a giant needle full of vervain on him.

"Damon?" He heard a familiar, gentle voice say from behind him

He turned around to see _her_. Her gentle angelic face that made his dead heart beat every time he saw her or heard her voice. She was standing there, looking at Damon with those big brown doe eyes that he loved so much.

"…Yeah?" Damon asked, trying to relax and not want to scare Elena away

"…I'm sorry" Elena said and slowly walked toward him, never taking those big brown doe eyes off of his ice blue eyes "I…I just didn't like the way you were accusing me and Stefan" Elena sighed and looked down for a minute, only to have Damon to was close by now lift her gaze back up to him "It felt like you didn't trust me"

"I trust you" Damon said "It's Stefan I don't trust" Damon sighed "The way he looked at you…it just…I couldn't take it. It was like he wanted to steal you away from me all over again"

"He could never do that" Elena said and there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips now "I belong to you and only you"

Damon smiled at Elena now and she smiled back and he leaned down to kiss her. But the kiss was quickly broken by Damon and Elena stared up at him in confusion.

"What?" She asked confused

"You know, it'd be a lot easier if you lived here with me. To show Stefan who you belong to" Damon said with a smirk

"I don't think so" Elena said

"Why not?" Damon asked

"Because your turning this into one big war with Stefan" Elena said gently "I don't want to tear you two apart even more than you already are. I'm not moving anywhere until things cool down between you two, okay?"

"…Okay" Damon sighed defeated "You win"

"I always win" Elena smiled cheerfully now and kissed Damon quickly on the lips. "So, you wanna go back to the house?"

"I don't think I'm welcome there anymore after almost throwing Stefan through the living room wall" Damon said with a smirk

"Well, the wall is a little…busted. But the house is still standing. And I made Jenna and Alaric promise not to kill you if I brought you back over there" Elena smiled "I'm warning you now though, they might hit you, but you can take a human punch, right?"

"Oh yeah, that's nothing compared to everything else" Damon smiled "I'll just suck it up and let them hit me…just not in the face"

"Unbelievable, after everything that happened tonight you choose to worry about your face" Elena laughed "You're a narcissist, you know that right?"

"I've been one for 169 years Elena" Damon smiled and kissed Elena on the cheek "But you love me anyway"

"Unfortunately" Elena laughed

_**

* * *

Present: **_

Elena was convinced that would probably be the last memory she's have before she died. It was a good memory though. It was of her and Damon and their love for each other. She would smile if she could right now, but as it is she could barely stay conscious. Before Elena could think anymore, she felt something being poured down her throat, something familiar. Then Elena realized what it was, it was blood. Her vision focused in on Stefan standing above her, his wrist to Elena's lips and his blood was dripping down her throat. Elena didn't know what to do. If she died, she'd come back as a vampire and live forever without Damon…or with Damon if he really wasn't dead. Or maybe the blood would heal her. Elena didn't know what was going to happen. She just wanted to close her eyes and dream about Damon until her fate was decided. But her eyes never shut, and her vision went from blurry to completely focused as the blood worked on Elena, healing her and bringing her back to life.

Stefan saw the blood working and he took his wrist away as he saw Elena slowly become aware of he surroundings. Elena slowly sat up, she was still weak and her head hurt like hell, but she was awake and she was alive. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Was Damon alive or dead? And would Stefan keep her locked up in the house? Would he change her into a vampire now that his blood was in her system? Too many questions were racing though her mind. But it was then, right there in her moment of silence in her mind that she heard a voice ring out through the house. It was faint, but clear, and Elena could easily pick it up now from the effects of Stefan's blood. She could pick this voice out in the middle of Times Square if she ever had to, and hearing that voice, even as faintly as she could, she felt her heart skip a beat and warm up her entire body.

"Elena" Was what the faint voice said. She missed hearing that voice say her name.

"Damon" Elena said and couldn't stop herself from smiling as she said his name.

Elena got up and off of the couch and was trying to find where the voice came from. But Stefan beat her too it. He was blocking her from going to go see _her_ Damon. He was standing in between her and her true love now, and it scared her. It scared her to see that look of anger in Stefan's eyes as he stood in front of her now.

"I don't think so Elena" Stefan hissed through clenched teeth as the veins from under his eyes showed up again and his fangs returned causing Elena to back away from him in true fear of him. Her heart sank knowing that as long as Stefan was here and alive, she would never see her Damon again. At least not alive ever again.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so I hope you guys like this chapter :] That song a the beginning "Hurricane" by 30 Seconds To Mars, it really inspired this chapter, so you can thank them and that song for this chapter :P i thought it kinda fit the way I wanted this chapter to go :]_

_So Stefan almost killed Elena; Bonnie and Caroline have a plan; and something tells me that if Elena wants to see Damon, it'll have to be over Stefan's lifeless body if Bonnie and them don't save her soon. So, Elena could soon not only be fighting to get Damon out and free, along with Isobel (but she has no idea Isobel is down there too yet), but Elena could also be fighting for her own life to get past Stefan. _

_And yes, I did a flashback this chapter :] I really wanted one in this chapter since there wasn't on in the last chapter, so I hope you like the flashback :] _

_So, that's all for now. I love you guys **so** much for reviewing this story and everything. At first I thought the idea for this story was like way out there and kinda weird, but you guys ended up liking the story and you have no idea how happy that makes me :] I'll be working on chapter five as well as my other stories :] I have way too many story ideas, so i'm trying to finish up my stories so I can start writing new ones for you guys :] Okay, I love all of you Delena lovers out there reading this right now, and I love all the Steroline lovers out there too (yeah, i kinda recently started shipping Caroline/Stefan, so, i'll probably be writing stories about them too at some point). But for now, I love you guys and I hope you enjoyed this chapter :] xoxo, Avril _


	6. I Don't Need Your Help

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

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Chapter Five: **I Don't Need Your Help

Elena was sitting down in the living room again, Stefan nearby and watching her, if she even thought of going to go to the basement and free Damon, he would kill her and she would become a vampire with all of his blood in her system. Elena didn't know what to do, all she knew is that she was trapped.

"Why are you doing this Stefan?" Elena asked, nothing bothering to turn around and face Stefan

"I don't know Elena, it just feels…right" Stefan said

"How can keeping your brother locked up underground and making me think he's dead for almost two weeks now feel _right?_" Elena said with as much venom in her voice as she could use

"Because you and Damon together…it's not right. Damon doesn't deserve love Elena. He's not capable of love or trust. He deserves hatred" Stefan said and came into Elena's view now with a glass of blood in his hands

"This isn't you Stefan, it's the blood talking. Your not stable on human blood" Elena said noticing the glass in his hands "I can help you get off of it, everything will get better with you back in your right state of mind" Elena said

"I don't need your help Elena" Stefan said and sat down in the chair next to Elena "Maybe this is my right state of mind. I'm a vampire. I'm supposed to be a monster and bring pain and misery into people's lives by taking their loved ones from them and using them as a meal."

"Then why did you save me?" Elena asked

"…Because…your different" Stefan sighed and stood up again

"How am I different Stefan? Is it because I look like her? Because of Katherine? If that's your answer Stefan, than I'm not all that different" Elena said

"Your right, your not different from her" Stefan said to Elena's face now, Elena saw anger coming up in Stefan's eyes now "Your exactly alike. You and Katherine have both managed to come into mine and Damon's lives and tear us apart piece by piece like plucking petals from a flower. And when there are no more petals, there's only a monster left. A monster you managed to create." Stefan hissed and was right in Elena's face now "Well guess what Elena, there are no more petals left. Now you have the monster. That's all that's left."

"That's not true Stefan" Elena said quietly, scared by Stefan being so close and so on edge "Your still inside there. The Stefan I know is still inside of you somewhere. He's just lost his way because of the human blood"

"No, I think the real Stefan has finally come back" Stefan said and got out of Elena's face

"You don't know what your talking about Stefan" Elena sighed "This isn't the Stefan that I love"

"You don't love me Elena, you love Damon" Stefan said

"No, I love you both. Yes, I love Damon with all my heart. But I'll always love you too Stefan, you're a part of me weather I like it or not. I could never kill you or let you get killed, just like how I could never kill Damon or let him get killed. If anything happened to either one of you, I couldn't live with myself. And if something ever happened to both of you…I'd probably die" Elena said on the verge of tears, meaning everything she said "I've felt horrible these past two weeks with Damon gone, I've wanted to die, I've been willing myself to die, but I just couldn't. My body wouldn't let me go. It stayed because you were right there taking care of me every second you could. And I know now that the cause of this was basically all your doing, but I saw guilt and sadness in your eyes Stefan. Damon's your brother and it killed you inside that you did this to him and to me. But…I forgive you Stefan. You did this for love, and I forgive you."

"…How could you still care for me Elena?" Stefan asked facing her again now "How could you forgive me?"

"…It's hard to explain" Elena sighed "But I forgive you because I still love you. Maybe not the way I love Damon, but I love you Stefan and that will never change"

Stefan wanted to say something back. He wanted to keep asking how Elena could love a monster like him or Damon. But he couldn't think of anything to say. All he did was sit down next to Elena in silence and stare at the fire lit in the fireplace.

Elena sat there, she knew Stefan was thinking about everything she had just told him, it was the truth, everything she just said was the truth. She looked out the window and saw that it was nighttime, everyone was probably worried sick about where she was by now.

* * *

"So, you want us to go barging into the Boarding House, battle Stefan who is crazed on human blood and kill him if we have to, and save Damon and Elena" Alaric stated

Bonnie nodded. They had to go save Elena. For all they knew she could be dead or a vampire by now, and sitting here was just making things worse.

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Caroline asked, talking about her and Jenna

"Well, I don't _think_ Stefan would hurt you guys" Bonnie sighed "But, just in case, I think you guys should stay pretty close to Alaric and Jeremy and keep stakes and vervain handy. We don't know how bad Stefan is on the human blood, he could just let them go, or he'll fight us. I don't know. All I do know is, if he fights back, I need you guys to be able to protect yourselves if I can't hold him off while you get Damon and Elena out of there"

"…Alright" Caroline sighed

"So what are we doing sitting here?" Jeremy asked "Let's go kick some vampire ass and save them"

* * *

Elena managed to fall asleep on the couch next to Stefan. She didn't feel safe at first, but after a while knew that if she relaxed a little, maybe Stefan would too. It seemed to work, because once Elena fell asleep next to him, she felt him relax a little bit, and that helped her relax more too. Elena drifted off to sleep having a dream of Damon again as expected, but it was of the similar conversation she shared with Stefan earlier.

_**

* * *

Flashback: **_

"I don't get how you ever loved that brooding brother of mine" Damon sighed as he held Elena close to him on the couch in the Boarding House watching the fire burn

"Well, I still love him" Elena said

Damon looked down at her confused, if she still loved him, then why was she here with him?

"I always will love him too Damon…just in a different way from how I love you" Elena smiled and kissed him on the cheek "No need for you to freak out about it" She laughed

"I'm not freaking out about it" Damon lied, inside, he was having a panic attack that one day Elena might just wake up and decide to go back to Stefan one day and leave him behind just as Katherine did

"Yes, you are" Elena laughed "Damon, I'm not Katherine. I'm never going to leave you. I made my choice, you're my choice"

"…Are you a mind reader now or something?" Damon asked

"Nope, I can just read you like a book" Elena giggled and kissed Damon on the cheek

Damon just smiled down at Elena. She really was something special. She managed to do the impossible, and that was bring him out of the darkness. And she did more than that, she became something much more to Damon than someone he loved, or saved him from eternal darkness. She was his humanity.

_**

* * *

Present: **_

Elena was snapped out of her dream by Stefan violently picking her up and holding her close to him. She heard growling in her ears and when she opened her eyes, she had no idea what was going on. She saw Bonnie standing there in front of her, and Jenna, Alaric, Jeremy, and Caroline trying to bust the lock that was on the door to the basement to go get Damon.

"Put. Her. Down. Now" Bonnie hissed at Stefan

Stefan didn't say anything, he just tightened his grip around Elena and growled even more at Bonnie. Elena was terrified. What if Stefan snapped her neck? She would be a vampire and Bonnie would kill Stefan for that.

"Bonnie…don't kill him" Elena pleaded

Bonnie looked at her best friend in confusion. How could she ask something like that? After all he's done to her and Damon? Was she going insane? But then Bonnie saw it in her eyes. She still cared for Stefan. Even though he was a psychopath right now, she still believed that Stefan had good in him somewhere, just like how she believed Damon had good in him too when Bonnie doubted her. She was proven wrong on that one, Damon did have good in him, he could be a good person. Bonnie learned to trust Elena on her judgment of a good person and a bad one. But this was her life that was on the line right now.

"If he doesn't hand you over Elena, I'm going to have to kill him" Bonnie sighed

"You kill me, and I'll kill Elena" Stefan said "She has enough of my blood in her, she'll change"

Bonnie didn't know what to do now. She expected something like this to happen, but she didn't know what to do in this situation. She heard the gang bust through the lock and they were charging down there to get Damon out.

"Stefan, please let me go" Elena pleaded as she looked up to Stefan "Please" She begged now

Stefan looked down at Elena. Seeing the fear in her eyes was enough to bring out the side of him that cared. Seeing her like that flipped the switch inside his brain that brought back the Stefan Elena had fallen in love with so long ago. Stefan slowly regained control and lost the fangs and slowly let go of Elena. Once she was lose enough from Stefan's grasp, she ran to Bonnie's side, and as soon as she was by Bonnie, she saw Stefan crumple to the ground in pain, she knew what Bonnie was doing. When she was sure Bonnie had everything under control, she ran over to where everyone went charging into the basement and found them just getting the cell door open where Damon was locked up.

* * *

"Isobel?" Alaric asked in surprise "How did-"

"I tried to save Damon for Elena" Isobel said weakly and Alaric noticed the vervain in the room, just being by the stuff in their condition right now was enough to make them extremely weak. "Bunny boy caught me"

"Yeah, well, he's switched from bunnies to soccer moms" Jeremy said

"I can see that now" She sighed

Elena was frozen in place, at loss for words when she heard Isobel tried to save Damon for her. Maybe she wasn't entirely bad after all. But then, what she saw sitting in the corner, barely conscious, made her smile from ear to ear.

"Damon!" Elena said and ran to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him, not wanting to ever let go of him again

"Nice to see you too" Damon said with a small smile on his lips and Elena could tell he was really weak

Elena held up her wrist to Damon's lips, and Damon pulled away.

"Drink Damon, I need to get you out of here" Elena said

Damon knew Elena wasn't going to back down and he just bit into her wrist. He wasn't going to take a lot, just enough to make her stop worrying about him and to get himself out of here. Soon, everyone realized that one of them was going to have to do the same for Isobel.

"Don't look at me, I've done my fair share of blood donations for vampires" Caroline said

"Pass" Jenna said "That leaves you and Jeremy" Jenna said looked at Alaric and Jeremy

"I'll do it" Jeremy sighed and kneeled down next to Isobel and held his wrist out to her

She bit into his wrist, and it didn't hurt as bad as Jeremy remembered it to be, but it still hurt. After a few seconds, Isobel pulled away. She didn't want to make Jeremy lightheaded and useless. She was able to stand up on her own and she noticed that Damon was already up and standing too with Elena right by his side.

"Now, can we please get out of here? I've been down here almost as long at Damon here and I'd really like a change of scenery" Isobel said

"We've got to help Bonnie, she's handling Stefan right now" Elena said

"Fine, let's help Bonnie, then get the hell out of here" Isobel sighed

* * *

_A/N: Okay so I hope you guys like this chapter :] _

_The main reason why I uploaded this chapter, other than me writing way too fast and you guys saying how wonderful the story is which makes me smile, I wanted to ask something completely unrelated to this story. I was thinking of writing a story about Stefan & Caroline, because I kinda became obsessed with them after last weeks episode, and if you guys could help me out that would be wonderful :] My question was, should I write it to where Caroline is human, or where she's a vampire like how she is now in the show? Even if your not gonna read it, just your opinion on her being human or a vampire would be amazing :] _

_So, thank you for reading this chapter, and I'll love you all forever if you help me out with that question about Caroline :] xoxo, Avril_


	7. Thank You

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

**

* * *

Chapter Six: **Thank You

Everyone was finally upstairs now, and it was way too quiet for someone to be fighting a vampire up here. Elena moved towards the living room first with Damon right behind her. She looked in the living room and there was nothing there, Bonnie and Stefan were gone.

"They're still here" Damon said "Come on, let's try the library"

Damon led the way now and everyone followed. When they got closer to the library, they heard sounds of pain, Bonnie and Stefan were in here. Elena didn't know what it looked like in there when Damon walked in there first, but she saw Bonnie, crippled on the floor and bleeding from her neck, she was dying fast. Elena didn't even have to say anything for anyone to know what was going on, Bonnie got overpowered by Stefan for a split second and that was it.

"Bonnie…" Elena said on the verge of tears and panic in her voice

Bonnie didn't say anything, but she was still conscious and breathing, barely able to hold her eyes open to see that Elena was okay and Damon was free. Damon was fighting with Stefan on the other side of the room with Isobel helping him. They were both _really_ pissed off for Stefan holding them down there and something told Elena that they were going to get their revenge. Jeremy walked over to Bonnie's side and kneeled down to see Elena on the verge of tears. Jeremy took the ring off of his finger, the one that kept him from dying and he put it on Bonnie's finger.

"She'll be fine Elena" Jeremy said "If she dies, she'll come back" Jeremy said and Elena noticed what Jeremy did now

"Thank you Jer" Elena smiled at him and he just nodded a little and stood up

Damon and Isobel in the mean time had Stefan finally pinned down to the floor, he was stronger than them by themselves, but together, they were able to hold him down. If only for a few minutes until Alaric came running over, injecting Stefan with vervain and tying him up with vervain soaked ropes. By the time Stefan was tied up, Bonnie had died. Elena held her best friend close, she didn't want to let her go even though she knew she would come back. Once everyone was sure that Stefan was held down pretty good, Elena saw Bonnie's breathing coming back and a few seconds later she was wide awake and alive again, holding onto Elena as if she was the only thing keeping her there in that room right now. After finally calming her down and telling her what happened, Bonnie must have told Jeremy 'Thank You' a million times.

"It's fine Bonnie" Jeremy laughed "We're all just glad your alive"

"Here" Bonnie said and took off the ring and gave it to Jeremy "Thank You" Bonnie smiled

"…Your Welcome" Jeremy smiled back and walked towards Alaric, Damon, and Isobel now

Elena noticed Caroline and Jenna in the corner of the library, as far away from the scene as they could possibly be without leaving the room. She knew they still weren't really used to everything, and Bonnie dying and coming back probably had them freaked out too, but at least they were safe for now. Elena helped Bonnie stand up now and once she was standing she hugged Elena tightly.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Bonnie said to Elena

"Me? You're the one that died!" Elena laughed

"Yes, but I came back to life, so…don't ever do that again! You scared us" Bonnie smiled and pulled away

"Alright, I get it, no more going anywhere alone with an unstable vampire" Elena sighed

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have someone I have to apologize to" Bonnie sighed

"Who?" Elena asked

"…Damon" Bonnie sighed "Even though I really don't want to…he technically saved me from Stefan by knocking him off of me"

"…Okay" Elena said and watched Bonnie walked over to Damon while Elena walked towards Jenna and Caroline to go see how they were handling everything.

* * *

"Damon" Bonnie said flatly

"Bonnie" Damon said back in the exact same tone

"Look, I…I just wanted to say…thank you" Bonnie sighed

"What for?" Damon asked highly confused

"For…saving my life" Bonnie said "If you didn't knock Stefan off of me…I'd really be dead right now. And I know you saved me only because I'm Elena's friend, and I know that life for you would probably be a lot easier with me dead."

"True, my life would be **way** easier with you dead" Damon said "But I know Elena would be crushed without you. So…your welcome"

"Just for the record, I still hate your guts" Bonnie said

"Same here" Damon said as Bonnie walked off, rolling her eyes

Damon turned his attention to Jeremy and Alaric who were watching Stefan now and ready with vervain if her woke up anytime soon.

"So, what are we doing with him?" Alaric asked Damon

"…We're gonna lock him up where he had me and Isobel. I'll decide from there" Damon sighed and Alaric helped Damon pick up Stefan and move him out of the room

Once Stefan was locked up in the cell and untied from all the ropes. Damon locked him into the cell and stood there waiting for Stefan to wake up even though he wanted to go back upstairs to Elena, he still had a few questions for Stefan. After a few minutes, Stefan started moving around a little and waking up.

"Morning sleepy head" Damon said and a sarcastic tone

"Where am I Damon?" Stefan asked him

"Where you locked me up for the past two weeks" Damon said "Why did you try to kill me anyway? I mean if it wasn't for Elena's blood saving me back there in that old building after I got shot, your little plan would have worked. So, I'm curious as to what that plan _was_ exactly" Damon said

"I…I wanted Elena back" Stefan said

"You know, in all the time we fought over Elena, I never actually **killed** you or had you killed. I tried but you're the first to succeed" Damon said

"I know. And I'm sorry Damon" Stefan said

"Sorry isn't gonna work this time Stefan" Damon sighed

"How long are you leaving me down here for then?" Stefan asked

"Maybe two weeks" Damon said "Don't worry, I'll bring you blood, don't want you to turn into a corpse on me now" Damon said with a smirk "See you in a few days brother" Damon said and walked away from Stefan's door and back upstairs

Everyone seemed surprisingly calm. Jeremy and Alaric were talking about something history related which Damon wasn't interested in hearing about; Jenna, Caroline, and Bonnie were all talking about how weird it was for Stefan to be the bad guy for once, which Damon **really** didn't want to hear about; and then there was Elena. His Elena was sitting close by the window, just staring outside. Damon walked up behind her and kissed her on the cheek while wrapping his arms around her.

"Where's Isobel?" Damon asked curiously noticing how she wasn't in the room

"She's in the kitchen, said she was getting blood or something" Elena sighed

"Oh, okay" Damon said "How are you feeling?"

"Me? How about you? You were shot at and locked up for two weeks" Elena laughed and turned to face Damon now

"I'm fine" Damon smiled "I'm just glad to have you back"

"Me too" Elena smiled and leaned in and kissed Damon

She didn't want to pull away but eventually had to so she could breathe. She wanted to kiss him again once she caught her breath, but Isobel walked into the room and towards them.

"Look, I may not really have any right to say this, but I am her birth mother, and there are just some things I never really want to see, one of them being seeing my daughter making out with you" Isobel said

"I liked you better when you were too weak to talk" Damon said and Isobel rolled her eyes

"How did you get locked up down there with Damon?" Elena asked Isobel

"…I was trying to save him, for you. I knew Stefan was lying from the minute I showed up at this house." Isobel said

"You tried to save Damon…for me?" Elena asked

"Yes" Isobel sighed "Guilty as charged"

"…Thank you Isobel" Elena said

"…Yeah, no problem" Isobel said and then looked at Damon "So, what'd you do with Stefan?"

"Locked him up, I'll decide what to do with him in two weeks" Damon sighed

"Alright" Isobel said and looked at Elena and saw that she was a little uncomfortable talking about Stefan "…Did he do anything to you Elena?"

"No" Elena said "He tried to kill me once actually earlier today…but he saved me" Elena sighed

"I'm gonna kill him" Damon said getting angry now that his brother tried to **kill** Elena

"No, Damon, don't!" Elena said "Please…don't kill him" She pleaded

Damon looked down into Elena's big brown doe eyes and they were brimming with tears. Weather he liked it or not, she still loved Stefan, in a different way, kinda like you love a brother, like how Damon should care for Stefan. But hearing that Stefan tried to kill Elena, his care and concern for his brother was blinded by rage and fury.

"…Fine…I won't kill him" Damon sighed and Elena nodded a little bit before wrapping her arms around Damon and holding him close to her

* * *

_A/N: Okay, so there's probably only two more chapters to this story, I haven't decided yet :] But most likely only two more left. The next chapter will be Damon and Elena getting used to having each other back in their lives and the one after that will be where Damon decides what to do with Stefan and that will be the end :] It never really was going to be a long story, I don't have the heart to write so many chapters where Elena thinks Damon is dead, four was enough for me :P But once this story is done, I'll be working on my Stefan/Caroline one I started yesterday, Still working on Shattered, Chapter Seventeen should be up soon on that one :] And still trying to get rid of my writer's block on Pieces :/ _

_But I hope you guys like this chapter, and I love you guys so much for all your wonderful reviews :] xoxo, Avril_


	8. Back To Normal

_I want you to know with everything I won't let this go,_

_These words are my heart and soul,_

_I'll hold on to this moment you know,_

_As I bleed my hear out to show and I won't let go_

**With Me by Sum 41**

**

* * *

Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

**

* * *

Chapter Seven: **Back to Normal

Elena and Damon were just laying together on Elena's bed. Ever since last week when Elena got Damon back, she refused to let go of Damon or let him out of her sight, of course there were a few exceptions, but she tried to stay with him as much as possible.

"Elena, I'm not going to disappear into thin air on you" Damon laughed

"I know" Elena sighed and slowly let go of Damon "It's just…I really missed you"

"I know" Damon smiled and kissed her on the forehead "I missed you too. But you saved me, you know that right?"

"Yeah, from down there in the basement" Elena said

"No" Damon said "Well, from there too, but also when I was shot"

"…What do you mean?" Elena asked confused now

"After I was shot, remember you cut yourself and poured your blood down my throat?" Damon asked

"…Oh yeah" Elena said and remembered back to that night now "I just didn't want to let you go"

"And if you didn't do that, I'd probably be dead by now" Damon said

"I saved you life…again" Elena smiled

"Yes, you did" Damon said

"And don't forget it" Elena laughed and kissed Damon quickly "You know, I've noticed that Bonnie is actually nicer to you lately"

"Nicer? She crippled me yesterday" Damon said

"Yeah…but at least she didn't call you any names or set you on fire" Elena smiled weakly

"Fine, I'll give her that. But I could save her life a million times Elena, she's still gonna hate me because-"

"You're a vampire. I get it. I know Bonnie's not exactly fond of vampires, especially you and Stefan because of what happened with her grandma, but, she's trying" Elena said and sat up now "And that's what counts"

"You have a point" Damon sighed

"I noticed too that Isobel has been a little nicer" Elena said

"A little" Damon said "She's only doing that though too because of you"

"What?" Elena asked confused

"Being locked up in a cell with someone for two weeks on the verge of death, you can learn a lot about someone, and Isobel…she's trying to be nice. For you" Damon said

"Oh…" Elena said "Well…she's trying"

"Yeah, I know, she's even been nicer to me" Damon said

"Wow, she really is trying. It's hard to be nice to you" Elena laughed

"You seem to have no problem with being nice to me" Damon said with a smile

"That's because it took months and months of getting used to you and knowing that basically you'll never change, you are who you are" Elena laughed

"And thank you for accepting that" Damon smiled and kissed her

"I love you Damon" Elena smiled

"I love you too" Damon smiled back and kissed Elena again

"So…what are you going to do with Stefan?" Elena asked

"I don't know yet, I have to check on him though today. You wanna come with me down to the Boarding House? You don't have to see him or anything, but-"

"I'll come" Elena said "…I want to see him"

"…Okay" Damon sighed and sat up on the bed now "Let's go visit Mr. Cranky Pants"

Elena just laughed and playfully slapped Damon on the arm. And after a few minutes of Elena and Damon play fighting with each other, they finally left the house.

* * *

Damon and Elena were inside Stefan's cell now, he was sitting up on the ground, barely conscious. Damon placed the water bottle full of animal blood on his lap and stepped back to Elena's side. Stefan opened the bottle and started drinking and as he did, he became more aware of Damon and Elena in the room.

"Elena?" Stefan asked weakly

"Back off Stefan" Damon growled and kept his arm protectively around Elena

"Damon…it's okay" Elena said and gave Damon a reassuring look, but he kept his arm around her "Hi Stefan"

"Why are you here?" Stefan asked her

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up" Elena said "Your back on animal blood…that's good" Elena said noticing him drinking the animal blood and not being repulsed by it

"Yeah, I am" Stefan said "Elena…I'm sorry, for everything I've done to you-"

"Stefan, I told you already, I forgive you…but I'm not going to forget" Elena sighed

"I understand" Stefan said "But, what I said, last week in the graveyard…you would be better off if you hated me Elena"

"No, I wouldn't" Elena said "Plus, I could never hate you Stefan. I still care about you, just not in the way you want me to anymore. I love Damon, it will always be Damon"

Stefan sighed and looked up at Elena and saw that she was telling the truth. "I know" Stefan finally said

"Good, now I think visiting hours are over, come on Elena" Damon said and started walking out of the room, waiting for Elena to follow

"…Bye Stefan" Elena said

"Bye Elena" Stefan said

Elena followed Damon out of the room and Damon shut and locked the door behind him. Once they were out of the basement, Damon and Elena walked into the living room and while Damon pored himself a glass of scotch, Elena sat down on the couch.

"You okay Elena?" Damon asked

"I'm fine" Elena sighed "Your not going to kill him, right?"

"…No" Damon said "Only because you're asking me not to"

"Good" Elena said and curled up next to Damon once he sat down next to her one the couch "What are you going to do?"

"Ask him to leave Mystic Falls" Damon said "At least for a little bit, until he's completely stable"

"That sounds fair" Elena said

"Yeah, I think the whole fair judgment thing is rubbing off on me from being with you" Damon smiled

Elena smiled back at Damon and kissed him on the cheek.

"You know Elena, being with me…you'll never have a normal life. There will always be something or someone around. Always the constant threat of death hanging over you head…I can't give you a normal life" Damon sighed

"At first…I wanted nothing but a normal life. But when I met you Damon…I wanted anything but a normal life. I would trade a thousand normal lives just to be with you in this crazy messed up life" Elena smiled

"Really, only a thousand?" Damon asked with a smirk and Elena playfully slapped him on the arm

"You know what I mean" Elena laughed "You know…I think I can handle an eternity of this, being with you"

"I don't know if I can handle an eternity with you though Elena" Damon said

"…And what's that supposed to mean?" Elena asked

"Well, for one, you refuse to get drunk ever since Atlanta and getting drunk is basically what I do every day" Damon laughed

"Fine, I promise to get wasted more often" Elena laughed "Anything else?"

"You've slowly been turning into a killjoy like Stefan, you need to have fun and just roll with the punches" Damon said

"Okay, okay. Fun Elena more often too, I get it" Elena smiled "but I have to be serious sometimes. I can't just turn into the girl version of you"

"Why not? Being me is fun" Damon smiled

"Fine, so I'll just get wasted all the time, form an eternity of hatred for my brother, go on a mass murder spree, and when me and you have a fight I'll just go drain a few college guys dry" Elena said

"…I'm fine with everything up to draining a few college guys dry" Damon said

"Your unbelievable Damon" Elena laughed "I'm not going to do _any_ of those things _ever_"

"You say that now, but live a hundred years and see how you feel about life then" Damon said with a smirk and kissed Elena on the cheek

Elena just rolled her eyes at Damon and wrapped her arms around him. She knew that an eternity with Damon would never be boring, there would always be something happening, something going on in their lives together.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so, next chapter will be the last chapter of this story :] I know it was like a super short story, but I hope you guys liked it anyway :] _

_I'll post the next chapter of Shattered as soon as I can :] And Vampire Diaries tonight! I can't wait :] _

_So, until then, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'll post the final chapter as soon as it's done :] I love you guys so much and I hope you like this story, I have many plans for more short stories as soon as I finish up a few other stories on here :] Thank you so much for reading :] xoxo, Avril _


	9. Goodbye

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

**

* * *

Chapter Eight: **Goodbye

"You ready?" Damon asked Elena as he walked into her room and found her sitting on her bed, staring off into space "You don't have to come if you don't want-"

"No, I want to come Damon" Elena sighed and stood up off of her bed "I want to say goodbye to him"

"…Okay" Damon sighed, "Ready?"

"Yeah" Elena nodded and followed Damon out of her room

Damon and Elena eventually got to the Boarding House and Damon had let Stefan out of the cell earlier, so he had been walking around a readjusting to everything for the past hour while Damon was with Elena. And when they walked into the house, Damon heard Stefan moving around upstairs, he was packing up his stuff, he didn't trust Stefan to be alone with Elena, but he knew that Elena would insist to just have one last goodbye with Stefan.

"He's upstairs" Damon said "Packing"

"Okay" Elena said and head for the stairs "You can listen if you have to, I know you will anyway to see if I'm okay, but…I'm just letting you know" Elena said

"Okay" Damon said and walked into the living room which was directly under Stefan's room, he could hear them better in there

* * *

Elena walked upstairs and right into Stefan's room and saw him walking around and packing up everything, but stopping and turning to face Elena.

"Hey" Elena said and smiled a little in his direction "…Where are you going?" Elena asked curious as to where he really was going after leaving Mystic Falls

"Florence" Stefan said

"Wow…all the way to Italy, huh?" Elena asked

"Yep" Stefan sighed "For a year or two, I'll probably come back here after that"

"…I hope you have fun over there" Elena said

"Thanks" Stefan said and went back to packing up his suitcases

"Stefan…I don't want you to leave here angry at me" Elena said

"I'm not angry at you Elena" Stefan said and looked into Elena's eyes "I always knew that you and Damon would end up together, I never liked the idea, but I knew it was going to happen no matter what I did"

"…So why did you have Damon nearly killed and almost kill me?" Elena asked, somewhat scared of the answer he was going to give her but she wanted the answer anyway

"Because…I was jealous, not to mention the human blood I was on that was fueling the fire" Stefan sighed

"Oh" Elena said

"…I'm sorry for hurting you Elena. Emotionally and physically" Stefan said "That's why I'm leaving, so I can't hurt you anymore"

"…I understand" Elena said

"You have a life…or unlife, to lead with Damon" Stefan said with a small smile on his face and Elena smiled back "I'm not part of your future Elena, but I'm glad that I at least can say now that I was part of your past…in some way" Stefan said

"And I'm glad you are too Stefan" Elena smiled and she couldn't help but to go hug Stefan

She caught him off guard, but he hugged back. Once he finally let go of her, Elena pulled away and smiled at him.

"Well…I'll leave you to your packing. Damon's waiting downstairs for me, he said he was taking me somewhere after we stopped here so…goodbye Stefan" Elena said

"Goodbye Elena" Stefan said

After one last glance at Stefan, Elena turned around and walked out of the room and downstairs. Once Elena was gone, Stefan took out the note he was hiding and put it on his bed, he knew Elena would come back here later on when Damon brought her back. He knew her well and he knew she would be hoping that he was staying but not only could he not stay because of Damon, but he didn't want to stay and hurt Elena anymore than he already had. He would come back in a year or two, to see Damon after 169 years finally settled down with someone, he knew it would happen.

* * *

"You know, this was actually a nice surprise" Elena said, still smiling and keeping her arms wrapped around Damon while looking up at the stars in the sky

"Well, your one of the only girls I know that like to be out in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night and look up at the stars" Damon smiled

"But that's why you love me" Elena laughed "And actually, Caroline and Bonnie like looking at the stars too"

"I should correct that sentence then, one of the only girls that I _love and care_ about that like to look up at the stars" Damon smiled

"You care about them too Damon, weather you like it or not, you do, they helped save you from spending an eternity locked up in that cell with Isobel" Elena said

"…Okay, so I care for them a little bit, but only because you made that point. I'd rather deal with them then being locked up in a room with Isobel forever" Damon said and Elena just playfully slapped him on the arm "Just telling the truth" Damon laughed

"I know, even if I don't like it, you always tell me the truth, and strangely enough, that's one of the things I love about you" Elena smiled and kissed Damon on the cheek "I love you Damon"

"I love you too Elena" Damon smiled and grabbed Elena and kissed her on the lips as if she was going to disappear on him

Elena was shocked by Damon kissing her like this so suddenly, but she kissed him back, only having to pull away shortly after to breathe.

"What was that about?" Elena asked with a smile

"What? I'm not allowed to kiss you anymore?" Damon asked with a smirk

"Your up to something" Elena laughed "Alright, tell me. Tell me right now or I will bug you about it for the rest of the week"

"I've been alive for 169 years Elena, I think I can handle a week of you trying to get something out of me" Damon smiled

"Please just tell me Damon" Elena pleaded

"…Fine" Damon sighed and reached into his pocket

"Your way too easy to break down" Elena laughed and kissed him on the cheek as he pulled something out of his pocket

"Yeah, I know" Damon smiled and held what he pulled out of his pocket out in front of her

"…Damon?" Elena asked looking down at Damon's hands and then back up at him and he was wearing a smile on his face

* * *

_A/N: Sorry this one was so short, but i kinda had to leave a cliffhanger, I decided to make it at least one chapter longer with and Epilogue at the end of it, so two more chapters! :] _

_WARNING, if you haven't watched the new episode of Vampire Diaries yet, don't read this next part right here: Okay so, I loved the episode so much with Caroline & Stefan being friends, and Alaric & Jenna kiss, and just when I thought, "Hey, the perfect ending would be a Delena kiss!" But NO. ELENA **HAD** to break Damon's heart AGAIN! And he was really trying to be nice and be her friend again and have her friendship back but **NO!** You know, I hope Katherine does something to drive a wedge between Stefan and Elena and Elena goes to Damon next week, that's be wonderful :] I'd love Katherine forever and ever if she made Elena go running to Damon and they kissed :] _

_OKAY, safe to read this part now: So, aside from that, I hope you guys like this chapter, sorry for the cliffhanger, and I think that's it. Oh, I've been working on my Stefan/Caroline story and Shattered, so that's kept me busy too, along with this story :] I love you guys! And I hope you love this chapter :] Two more until the end :] What do you think Damon is giving Elena? xoxo, Avril_


	10. Don't Ever Leave Me

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

**

* * *

Chapter Nine: **Don't Ever Leave Me

Elena lost track of how many times she had kissed Damon by now. But all she knew when she pulled away from him smiling and staring into those ice blue eyes that she loved so much, she knew she was truly in love with Damon and always would be.

"Don't ever leave me" Damon said to her as he kissed her on the cheek

"Never ever" Elena smiled and kissed Damon back on the cheek

Damon smiled back at her and before he could kiss her again, Elena pulled away from him. Damon looked at her confused but she just smiled back at him.

"What are _you_ up to now?" Damon asked

"Well, you never really _asked_ me anything, I just kinda pounced on you and started kissing you" Elena laughed

"True" Damon smiled "Okay…Elena, I love you. And I will love you for the rest of eternity and nothing can ever change that. And those two weeks I spent away from you being locked up in a cellar, barely alive, I realized how much I really do love you and…I can't go another day without being able to call you Mrs. Salvatore" Damon said and Elena smiled and laughed a little "So, Elena Gilbert, will you marry me?"

"Yes" Elena smiled and ran back into Damon's arms and hugged him and kissed him

* * *

Stefan looked at the Boarding House one last time while loading up his things into his car. He would always remember everything good and bad that happened here in the past year. It was a hell of a year. Falling in love and being with Elena was the highlight of his time here. Remembering how he used to make her smile still made him smile to this day, even if it was just a memory now, it was a memory he would cherish. He closed the trunk on his car and just stared at the Boarding House for a minute. _One year Stefan, only one year you have to stay away. Then you can come back and see Elena's smile again, even if it is because of Damon; _Stefan thought to himself.

He turned away from the Boarding House and got into his car and drove off. This would be the last time he'd be in Mystic Falls for a whole year. But he would be back, maybe not to take Elena away from Damon, but he'd be back, just to see her smile, even if it was for someone else.

* * *

Elena and Damon were finally coming back to the Boarding House. The first thing Elena noticed was that Stefan's car was out of the driveway now, she knew he was gone for good now, at least for a year. Elena looked down at her ring finger and then over at Damon and she smiled. She knew she chose the right brother, she knew from the beginning that Damon was never _evil _like Stefan always told her he was, but he was just lost and misunderstood. But Elena understood Damon…at least sometimes she understood Damon. Damon got out of the car and before Elena could open her door, Damon was there and holding the door open. Elena smiled and once she was out of the car she wrapped her arms around Damon and kissed him.

"I love you" Elena smiled

"I love you too" Damon said back with a smile and scooped Elena up and before Elena could even blink, they were inside the house and Damon was gently setting Elena down on her feet

Once Elena was balanced, she started walking around the house, expecting to see some big difference in Stefan's absence. There were a few books gone that sat on the shelves in the living room, a few pictures too, but other than that, it was the same. Damon watched Elena look around, he knew she was looking for some change in Stefan being gone, but she wasn't going to find it. Even if half the stuff was Stefan's in the house, vampires in general don't drag half a house around with them, they just leave it there, but Damon didn't really have the heart to say that to Elena, he just let her wander around in silence, looking around for change that wasn't going to be there. Elena stopped looking in the kitchen, when she saw that everything was the same. In a way, she liked how everything was the same, but also, it made her feel like that if Stefan can just get up and leave without a thing changing in the house, who's to say that Damon can't do the same thing and just leave her here one day. Weather she was human or vampire, he could just get up and leave and she wouldn't know for a while.

Elena ran back into the living room, trying to erase that from her mind, she didn't want to think about Damon just getting up and leaving her, especially since they just got engaged not even a half hour ago. She plopped down on the couch next to him and snuggled up next to him, she didn't want to let go of him ever. Even though she made her choice and she was going to be with Damon for all eternity, she couldn't help but feel her heart break just a little, even after all Stefan did, making her believe that Damon was truly dead when he was sitting in a cell in the basement with Isobel slowly turning into a living corpse. Stefan still held a piece of her heart, even after that, and she knew that he always would. But it was different from how Damon had her heart. If it was Stefan that died, Elena knew she would cry and miss Stefan, but she'd get over that. But when she thought Damon was dead, though she tried not to show it to worry everyone, she was seriously contemplating ways to die. She couldn't live without Damon, her life without Damon made her feel empty inside, like she was already dead on the inside, but just existing on the outside. Going through the motions of acting like a grieving person on the outside while on the inside she was thinking of ways to join Damon in death, true death. Elena squeezed Damon next to her tighter as she tried to shake that feeling, feeling like this now with Damon here just felt to weird, true death was the last thing she wanted to think about with Damon still here with her.

"You okay?" Damon asked looking at Elena confused

"I'm fine" Elena sighed "Just thinking"

"…About what?" Damon asked and Elena just looked away from him "Come on Elena, I'm not a mind reader, tell me"

"I was just thinking about when I thought you were really gone" Elena said and looked at Damon now "With you gone…I wanted to die. But, you're here, and I don't want **you** to ever leave me"

"Never ever" Damon smiled and kissed Elena

Damon turned towards Elena and wrapped his arms around her and kept kissing her. He wanted Elena to know how much he really did love her, but then her cell phone rang and Damon sighed and pulled away to let her answer. Elena pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and saw 'Jeremy' lit up on the Caller ID.

"What's up Jer?" Elena answered

"_Where's Damon?" _Damon heard Jeremy ask over the phone

"Right here…why? Did he try to kill you again?" Elena asked and cast a death glare towards Damon

"_No," Jeremy laughed "It's just me and Ric found out something he might want to know" _

"Oh, okay, here, I'll put him on" Elena said and handed the phone to Damon

"What is it?" Damon asked

"_Stefan left town today, right?" Jeremy asked_

"Yes, why?" Damon asked confused

"Do you know, where he went?" Jeremy asked

"Florence" Damon said "Why so curious Jeremy?"

"Stefan went to Florence to go be with Katherine" Jeremy said

"…How do you know this?" Damon asked

"He called and told Ric, no idea why though, and he didn't want you to know, but I figured, why not?" Jeremy said

"…Thanks for letting me know" Damon sighed "At least we don't have to worry about her for a while now"

"Yeah, I guess not" Jeremy said

"You wanna talk to Elena?" Damon asked

"No, I'm good" Jeremy sighed "See ya Damon"

"Bye" Damon said and hung up Elena's phone and handed it back to her "Stefan went to Florence with Katherine"

"Oh…" Elena said "At least we don't have to worry about Katherine now, right?" Elena asked

"Right" Damon said and smiled at Elena and kissed her on the cheek.

Damon and Elena ended up staying up late and watching a movie where Elena fell asleep in the middle of it. Damon couldn't help but smile at her, he loved watching her sleep, she looked so…peaceful and angelic when she slept. He turned off the movie and carried Elena up to his bed and covered her with the blankets after getting her shoes and jacket off of her. Once Elena was settled, Damon got in bed next to her and watched her sleep for a few minutes before he fell asleep himself right next to her.

Elena's eyes fluttered open to find herself in Damon's bedroom with Damon asleep right next to her. She smiled and kissed him on the forehead but he was knocked out, nothing would wake him up right now. And that was when Elena decided to get up and walk around the house a little bit.

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_A/N: Okay, so I hope you guys like this chapter, next chapter is the epilogue which is the ending of this wonderful story :] And because I love you guys so **so **much and you keep giving me wonderful reviews to read that make me smile, I'm giving you guys a preview of the last chapter: _

_

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_**Epilogue**: Stefan's Letter

Elena walked into Stefan's room. All of his furniture was still there, it was just the most of his belongings were gone now. Elena walked over to Stefan's bed and sat down there, just looking around the room, seeing the differences. It looked like someone left, like someone wasn't living here anymore, and that was what Elena was looking for all over the house, the sign of someone gone. A little wave of relief passed over her, she knew now that Damon couldn't just get up and leave her one day, not without her noticing at least. She looked at Stefan's pillow and saw that there was a letter on his pillow with 'Elena' written on it in perfect cursive. Elena picked up the letter and opened it up and started to read what Stefan wrote.

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_Sorry it's so short, but I don't want to spoil the letter for you guys that Stefan left for Elena :] _

_I hope you guys like the ending :] I loved writing this story, it was fun :] and more short stories to come soon probably since this one is done, or will be done once the next chapter is up :P _

_I love you guys, your awesome and amazing! xoxo, Avril_


	11. Epilogue: Stefan's Letter

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I just like playing with the characters a little :P

**

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Epilogue: **Stefan's Letter

Elena walked into Stefan's room. All of his furniture was still there, it was just the most of his belongings were gone now. Elena walked over to Stefan's bed and sat down there, just looking around the room, seeing the differences. It looked like someone left, like someone wasn't living here anymore, and that was what Elena was looking for all over the house, the sign of someone gone. A little wave of relief passed over her, she knew now that Damon couldn't just get up and leave her one day, not without her noticing at least. She looked at Stefan's pillow and saw that there was a letter on his pillow with '_Elena'_ written on it in perfect cursive. Elena picked up the letter and opened it up and started to read what Stefan wrote.

* * *

Elena,

I'm leaving Mystic Falls and going to Florence with Katherine. I know you knew I was going to Florence, but I thought you should know with who. I figured that since I'm leaving Mystic Falls anyway, I might as well get rid of the problem and not leave her here for you and Damon to deal with. She came back for me in the first place, so it only made sense to get her away from you so you and Damon can live somewhat normal lives now. I don't love her Elena, not the way I loved you, you'll always be in my heart, even if I am here with Katherine.

I know that's the last thing you really want to hear, with you moving on with Damon and everything, that I still love you, but I know you still love me too in some way. Elena, you are the kindest, most warm-hearted, and beautiful person I have ever met, and I'm glad I got to know you better, to prove that you are oceans apart from Katherine. And even though I'll never stop being in love with you Elena, I have to try to stop, for you. So, I'm going to try to be the brother I should have been back in 1864 to Damon. I'm going to step aside and let him have the girl. He is my older brother anyway, plus, he used to be my best friend, and I miss that Damon. And when he's with you, I see that Damon, I see the Damon from 1864 and before that, the one who was my best friend and brother most of all. So please, take care of him Elena, and don't break his heart, because, I don't think he could handle having that happen to him again.

I'm trusting Damon to take care of you Elena, to treat you the way you should be treated; to make you smile and laugh, and to love you the way you should be loved. Deep down inside, Damon is actually a caring and kind hearted person, don't let the exterior fool you, but, you probably already know that.

Mystic Falls is safe for now, no more Katherine Pierce or Stefan Salvatore left to terrorize the town and it's people. I'll never forgive myself for doing what I did to you, Damon, and Isobel, I was a monster, and I still am. But most of all, I'll never fully understand how you could care for this monster, I guess that's just part of your warm-hearted nature. But I'm back on the bunnies and squirrels, I promise, no need to look up the Italian murder rates going up. As for Katherine, she'll still hunt her way, but I can assure you that none of the murders will be from me.

Congratulations on getting engaged to Damon, he told me what he was going to do the night before. I still don't know if it was to rub it in my face, or just telling me as a brother and a friend, or maybe both, but that's Damon for you, the everlasting mystery. I wish you luck on trying to figure him out, but something tells me that no one will ever fully understand my brother. But I wish you two the best, and you can safely invite me to the wedding if you want, I promise not to kill anyone, or have them killed, or try to steal you from Damon, he won and I'm stepping aside like I promised.

So, good luck Elena, on everything…especially with Damon. And, I know your going to need that luck. And, if you could Elena, tell Damon I miss being his brother. I really do miss him being my brother. But, I think that's it. I miss you already Elena, you can still call me if you just want to say hi, I'll be here, always.

-Stefan

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Elena smiled at the letter, Stefan was trying, he really was. She really smiled since Stefan wanted to be brothers again with Damon and not mortal enemies. She knew it would take a lot of work and begging to get Damon to willingly talk to Stefan, but he would eventually cave in to her, like he always did. She would start her begging tomorrow and hopefully after two weeks, he'll break down and call Stefan, just to say hi. She folded up the letter and just held it there in her hands for a minute, until she heard footsteps coming down the hallway and saw Damon look into the room before fully stepping into the doorway.

"There you are" Damon said and walked into the room "You okay?"

"Fine" Elena sighed and looked at him "I was just looking in here…to see if it looked like someone was gone"

"…Why do you keep looking for signs of someone gone all over the house?" Damon asked confused

"It's a stupid reason" Elena laughed

"Tell me" Damon said

"it's just…I was looking for signs of Stefan gone because…if you ever got up and left me-"

"Stop there" Damon said and walked over to Elena and sat down next to her on Stefan's bed "I'm never going to leave you Elena, you know that"

"I know, but what if-"

"No what if's" Damon smiled "Wherever you go, I go. I'm never leaving you. I'm going to follow you to the ends of the earth Elena. You can't get rid of me that easily"

"…Good" Elena laughed and kissed Damon "Would you do something for me?"

"What?" Damon asked

"Call Stefan, just to say hi" Elena said

"No" Damon said "I love you Elena, but I refuse to call him"

"Please?" Elena begged and looked at Damon with her big brown doe eyes

Damon tried to look away, he knew now that she already knew how to wrap him around her finger, just one look from those big brown eyes and he would do anything for her, hell, he would jump off a cliff for her if that made her happy right now. But she wasn't begging for that, she was begging for him to call his brother.

"…Fine, tomorrow" Damon sighed "Happy?"

"That was easier than expected" Elena smiled

"You planned this?" Damon asked

"I thought you'd be tougher, like two weeks of begging, but this is nice too" Elena laughed and kissed him on the cheek

"You'll be the death of me, you know that, right?" Damon asked and laughed

Elena just kissed him back and that was when Damon noticed the letter Elena was holding.

"What's that?" Damon asked while pulling out of the kiss and holding Elena's hand that had the letter in it

"A letter from Stefan" Elena said "He wants to be your brother again Damon, not your mortal enemy" Elena handed Damon the letter, she wasn't afraid to let her boyfriend, no, _fiancé, _read this letter

"I'll look at it later" Damon sighed and kissed Elena on the cheek "But for now, can we go back to bed?"

"Sure" Elena smiled and stood up

"No way" Damon said and stood up next to her and scooped her up into his arms "I'm taking you there"

"Fine with me" Elena said and wrapped her arms around Damon's neck

Damon carried Elena down the hall and into his bedroom and gently set her down in bed. She relaxed instantly and Damon saw that she was exhausted. So after getting in bed next to her, he kissed her on the forehead and talked to her until she peacefully fell asleep again. And once Elena was asleep, that was when Damon decided to read the letter. And as Damon read Stefan's letter, he could see that Stefan really did want to be brothers again, before Katherine ruined their friendship and brotherhood. Damon folded up the letter and put it on the nightstand next to him, turn the light off, and wrapped his arms around Elena's waist and pulled her closer to him. And as he inhaled Elena's wonderful scent and closed his eyes, he knew that he was going to do whatever Elena asked, and the first thing she asked was for him to call Stefan, and he was going to tomorrow morning.

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_A/N: Okay, so this is officially the end to this story :] I was planning on saving Stefan's letter for last :] _

_I loved writing this story and I hope you guys loved reading it :] _

_Now that this story is done, I'm gonna be working on my other two stories. I'm probably gonna start another story soon though :P _

_So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I love you guys so much! xoxo, Avril_


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